10 Creative Kitchen Extensions With Skylights That Make These Light-Enhancing Windows the Most Interesting Detail
Skylights in kitchen extensions feel like the sort of thing you just should do. Who doesn’t after all, want more light, or that sense of openness overhead that can make your extension feel bigger. Realistically, they’re not a necessity for every renovation, especially when considering the extra cost to a project, but there’s a good reason they’re often utilized, especially when extending narrower homes, such as making additions to terraced houses.
“As so much housing stock consists of terraced or semi-detached houses, relying solely on light from the front or rear elevation is not sufficient to achieve bright inviting spaces, therefore skylights are often the only option to improve levels of natural lighting,” explains Ester Corti, co-founder and director at London’s Mitchell + Corti Architects. “As building technology has advanced, there is also less fear that skylights will leak, too, which perhaps has also increased popularity.”
A skylight doesn’t have to be an element that only delivers on this functional aspect of your kitchen extension ideas, however. With the right design, they can become a feature that enhances all aspects of your extension, and brings a new style sensibility to the space.
To prove that point, I’ve collected 10 projects where architects and designers have done just that — creative ideas for kitchen extensions with skylights that will convince you that they’re a worthwhile investment for your project.
1. Play With Color With Your Skylight
The base of the kitchen island is a bright yellow that ties in with the extension’s skylight overhead.
(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito. Design: YARD Architects)
“This project embraces the use of bold color throughout, and any opportunity to incorporate a pop of color was firmly grasped,” says Simon Graham, founder of YARD Architects, of this Georgian townhouse renovation he’s dubbed ‘Vivid House’. It’s a home that doesn’t lack for energy in how paint colors have been utilized throughout, but perhaps one of the standout kitchen color ideas comes in the extension’s skylight, where the interior has been painted in bright yellow.
“The use of yellow was intended to add a sunny glow to the light borrowed through the rooflight, and it really works,” Simon says. You can imagine, that even on a duller day, the light reflecting off this yellow-painted skylight casts a sunnier hue into the space.
Simon Graham
Simon founded YARD Architects back in 2014, and has since completed over 100 projects with his team. The practice’s signature style embraces forward-thinking elements, along with a sense of whimsy and fun in the design, enhanced by a creative use of color.
2. Incorporate Lighting Into the Skylight
A skylight over the kitchen island made for a challenge to incorporate task lighting.
(Image credit: Nat Spada Photography. Design: Kitty Lee Architecture. Builder: Renotech Building)
Some people might think of a kitchen extension with skylights as a limitation to what you can do with your kitchen lighting ideas, but for architect Kitty Lee, it became a way to do something special above this kitchen island.
“The kitchen is located in the darkest part of the house so a double height void was introduced to pierce through the building and draw natural light into the room,” Kitty explains. “The skylight above the void is positioned directly over the island bench so this created the challenge of how to add task lighting over the work top.”
Buying lighting off-the-shelf for the design Kitty dreamed up wasn’t an option, so she had to work on something bespoke with Australian lighting brand LAAL to have the pendant lighting emerging from the vaulted skylight. “This solution allowed us to achieve an abundance of natural daylight from the skylight, enhanced with practical task lighting — a beautiful feature in its own right,” Kitty says.
3. Design in L-Shape Glazing
This glazed extension brings light deeper into the kitchen space with an L-shape arrangement.
(Image credit: Anna Stathaki. Design: A New Day Studio)
Kitchen extensions with skylights can be even more effective when combined with vertical glazing to create L-shaped sections, as in this design created by Andrew Griffiths, founder of London-based A New Day Studio.
Using it in one area gives a glass kitchen extension effect, but on a smaller scale, giving you that indoor-outdoor sensation, but with better control over how, where and when the daylight enters, and mitigating its effect on the space. In this kitchen, it not only brings more light in through the home’s side return, but also bathes the kitchen sink and stretch of countertop in daylight too, creating a happy space that you’ll enjoy spending time in, even if you do have to do the washing up.
4. Run Skylights Around the Kitchen Extension
As well as a large skylight over the dining table, an L-shape skylight outlines the second story extension, bringing light deeper into the extension.
(Image credit: Juliet Murphy. Design: Iguana Architects)
One of the perils that homes with larger footprints face that aren’t such an issue for small kitchen extensions is how far light can ingress if you rely just on light from the front and rear elevation, but a single skylight, even well-placed, won’t illuminate every area.
Iguana Architects went big on the roof glazing in this modern extension, using both a large, traditional skylight over the dining area with an L-shape rooflight around the perimeter of the second story of this double story extension, eliminating dark spots by bringing light deep into the structure.
5. Highlight the Important Parts With the Skylight
The skylight overhead makes the banquette area somewhere you’ll want to linger.
(Image credit: Helen Cathcart. Design: Nash Baker Architects)
In a kitchen extension, a skylight can (and should) be used tactically in a place where it will bring you the most enjoyment. That was the decision-making factor behind the skylight in this kitchen designed by Nash Baker Architects, where the kitchen, and more specifically the dining table within it, was set to become the new heart of the home.
“It not only floods the seating area with natural light throughout the day but also frames a dramatic view of the rear elevation of the building,” explains Ahmed Shawky, Design Director of Nash Baker. “It acts almost like a living artwork, constantly changing with the time of day and the seasons.”
Beyond aesthetics, the skylight plays a crucial role in balancing the light levels within the space. “Without it, the banquette seating could have felt like a darker corner of the kitchen, but instead, it becomes a focal point — a warm, inviting nook where the family naturally gathers. Whether it’s morning coffee or an evening meal, the interplay of natural light and architectural framing makes this spot feel incredibly special.”
Ahmed Shawky
With qualifications in Architecture, Engineering, and Interior Design, Ahmed brings a wealth of creativity and expertise to all disciplines of the design process.
7. Run Beams Across an Extension Skylight
Structural beams help soften natural light as it enters the extension.
(Image credit: Peter Molloy. Design: Draper Studio)
You may, instinctively, think that keeping your kitchen extension’s skylight completely unobstructed is key, but, increasingly, architects are breaking up expanses of glazing with beams, whether structural or not, to add ceiling decorating ideas that bring interest overhead.
For architect Adam Draper, founder of Draper Studio, keeping the beams in this project was a no-brainer. “The beams are structural so the simplest way of maintaining the structure, without trimming the openings, is for the beams to sail across,” he explains. But, they bring their own qualities, outside of their structural requirements, to the kitchen extension, too. “The beams do two things,” he adds. “They allow sunlight to baffle against the beams and diffuse direct light down into the room, and they also help with privacy as oblique views from the neighbors are partially blocked.”
8. Go Custom With the Shape
As well as the round skylight, this extension has a glazed side return.
(Image credit: Agnese Sanvito. Design: YARD Architects)
Classic skylights, especially off-the-shelf brands, are a lot more affordable these days, but they also come with limitations in design and size. However, as you’ve probably figured out by now, there’s a whole lot you can do with extension glazing that goes beyond the everyday skylight.
Experimentation with shape and size is now possible in new ways, and these kitchen skylight ideas will bring more character and style to your space. Just take this kitchen extension by YARD Architects as an example, introducing a round porthole window in the ceiling to tunnel light into the space.
“On this project we have two distinct areas of roof glazing, and both of these have different design requirements,” Simon Graham of YARD Architects explains. “The side-return glazing had to be sloping and opening, but the rooflight in the dining area is completely different, and we decided to make it round and feel like a hole had been punched through the roof plane (also inspired by James Turrell’s skyspaces).”
In this space, the layout is flexible so the owners can move the dining table around. “The round rooflight, offset to one side in plan, felt like a less formal way of embracing the fact that the dining table might be sitting in different areas of the floorplan too,” Simon says.
9. Incorporate Into a Statement Ceiling
Skylights are incorporated neatly into this ceiling design.
(Image credit: Chris Warton. Design: Roar Studio)
You can look at skylights in kitchen extensions in two ways — 1. they’re going to interrupt whatever clever plan you have for your ceiling; or 2. they can be integrated into it in a way that enhances the whole design.
For this extension by ROAR Architects, skylights fit nearly into the curved, grid design used for the ceiling of the single story extension, an essential part of the design of this space. “The vaulted roof was born from the need to achieve a dramatic, playful space with the best ceiling heights possible, whilst fitting within the planning constraints of eaves and roof heights set by the local authority,” explains Shaun O’Brien, director at ROAR Architects. “The ribbed timber structure has unlocked so many problems for this site and it looks cool too.”
10. Go Double-Height to Create a Light Well
This double height space above the kitchen came at the sacrifice of square footage on the second floor.
(Image credit: Jennifer Hughes. Design: Colleen Healey)
To master light in your kitchen extension, you could also combine the architecture with a skylight in order to capture as much natural daylight as possible for your space. In this DC home, Colleen Healey of Colleen Healey Architecture introduced a double-height ‘lightwell’ using daylighting principles to improve how this open plan space works.
“In working through a physical model that we made in the office, I devised a scheme to get us both north and south light by borrowing and bouncing from the south with a light well,” says Colleen. The skylight also helps to borrow natural light for upstairs spaces too, while allowing the kitchen to benefit from a lofty sense of height.
FAQs
How Much Does a Skylight Cost in 2025?
“Skylight systems have become more affordable, and there are many companies offering off-the-shelf solutions with integrated blinds, electrical openings, rain sensors, and so on,” says Ester Corti of Mitchell + Corti Architects. But how much are we looking at?
According to Barbara Entwistle, Project Development Manager at Velux, the cost of roof windows varies based on size, type, glazing options, and additional features. As a general guide, prices can range from a few hundred to several thousand pounds. There are a range of techniques to manage the cost of roof window installation and management:
Choose Standard Sizes: Standard-sized windows are typically more cost-effective than bespoke options.
Opt for Manual Operation: Manual windows are less expensive than electric or solar-powered versions.
Consider Energy Efficiency: Investing in energy-efficient glazing can reduce long-term heating and cooling costs.
Velux’s Single Classic Roof Window starts from £536.40, while at the other end of the scale, the brand’s Side by side solution begins from £1,647.60.
These are off-the-shelf options, but when you start to look at custom glazing for roof lights and lanterns, those prices are going to increase. According to Edward Stobart, Technical Sales Manager at IDSystems, custom designed flat roof lights start from around £850 per square meter, while lanterns cost from around £1,200 per square meter and structural glass rooms from around £1,500 per square meter, without VAT, but including installation.
Of course, these are very much ballpark figures and will depend on a number of factors including sizes, glass specification, complexity of design, and resource needed to install.
With those numbers ringing in your ears, it’s not a throwaway decision to opt for a kitchen extension with skylights, but it is, probably, one of the most transformative ideas you can apply when extending your home. The good news if you’re undertaking a small kitchen extension? It’s not going to cost you the world to install something off-the-shelf, and even if you might not be able to apply quite the same design factor to them, there’s still scope to make your rooflight a moment, while bringing extra lighting into your kitchen.
